


tit for tat

by intelcore



Series: holism [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: M/M, shortest randomest thing ive posted
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:21:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26993569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/intelcore/pseuds/intelcore
Summary: “Jason,” Leo says simply. Stops.“I’m sorry,” Jason says at once, like he is offering condolences. Like he is the one who missed Leo’s funeral on a hunch, a mad, insane, downright reckless idea. Like he is the one who had to stand over Leo’s cold body as it lay motionless in a black coffin. “I’m sorry. I know I hurt you. And Piper. And everybody else. But I had to do it. I had to make the sacrifice. I wish I could say goodbye to you.” Jason’s blue eyes crinkle behind his lenses. A cowlick stands up next to his ear. “But out of everyone, Leo, I...I thought you’d understand best.”What a load oftripe. “Well, I didn’t.”Jason’s smile is fading with his body. “That’s not true. Don’t lie to yourself, Valdez.”“Well, screw you man,” Leo says, voice hoarse. “For whatever you’re implying. For even thinking that. For even—screw you.““Believe it or not, for a long time I wanted to say the same thing to you,” Jason says simply. Stops.to storm or fire
Relationships: Jason Grace/Leo Valdez
Series: holism [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1989676
Comments: 10
Kudos: 42





	tit for tat

**Author's Note:**

> some random thing cuz i was bored and am also testing out my hand at this sprawling valgrace multichapter fic with this idea

His dreams have always been full of fire, fire in skies and mechanic shops, fire under feet and in hearts. But for the past few months they have only been about ships.

Exploding ships. Destroyed ships. Sometimes the ships go up in flames, but recently, they’ve started being struck through by lightning. Greek triremes have been swapped for luxury yachts, explosions in skies swapped for explosions at sea.

Either way, there are no survivors. Usually.

But tonight, there’s one.

In the smoldering wreckage of the Julia Drusilla XII, a lonely figure rises to his feet, gold trimmed glasses askew. Leo watches with detached curiosity.  _ It worked.  _ He should feel overjoyed, ecstatic, but all he feels is numb.  _ It finally worked _ . Weeks and weeks of pleading and hoping with each and every god who had been willing to listen, and he’s finally face to face with Jason Grace.

Mere inches span between them, but Leo can’t bring himself to move. His feet are rooted to the spot and all he can do is stare at his dead best friend, his dead boyfriend, his dead—

The warning flashes through his mind and he retracts his outstretched hand. His dead—

“Jason,” Leo says simply. Stops.

“I’m sorry,” Jason says at once, like he is offering condolences. Like he is the one who missed Leo’s funeral on a hunch, a mad, insane, downright reckless idea. Like he is the one who had to stand over Leo’s cold body as it lay motionless in a black coffin. “I’m sorry. I know I hurt you. And Piper. And everybody else. But I had to do it. I had to make the sacrifice. I wish I could say goodbye to you.” Jason’s blue eyes crinkle behind his lenses. A cowlick stands up next to his ear. “But out of everyone, Leo, I...I thought you’d understand best.”

What a load of  _ tripe _ . “Well, I didn’t.”

Jason’s smile is fading with his body. “That’s not true. Don’t lie to yourself, Valdez.”

“Well, screw you man,” Leo says, voice hoarse. “For whatever you’re implying. For even  _ thinking _ that. For even—screw you.“

“Believe it or not, for a long time I wanted to say the same thing to you,” Jason says simply. Stops.

Jason is fading before his eyes. Leo feels his voice harden against his will, but he can’t help it. “What do you mean by that?”

“You never said goodbye,” Jason says. “You never even said you were going. You just left. You made a plan on your own. You interpreted the prophecy for yourself. You saved the day and left without a goodbye. You did it first.”

“I play the big hero  _ one _ time, and you have to show me up? Is that it?” Leo tries to inject something,  _ anything _ into his words. Bravado. Humor. It just feels hollow. “Afraid I was stealing your  _ thunder _ ?”

But Jason barks out a laugh like it’s the funniest thing he’s said. Maybe he’s even being genuine. Gods above only know why Jason’s the sole person who finds all of Leo’s dumb jokes funny.

“I missed you,” Jason tells him. “I really did.”

Leo can’t trust himself to speak, so he just nods and offers Jason his hand. He’s half expecting Jason’s hand to pass through his, but instead his boyfriend holds on to his palm, warmer and coarser than the hands of any dead body. Leo barely manages to suppress a shiver.

“Do you know why I’m here?” Leo asks him.

Jason raises his eyebrows and shakes his head, a no. “No. I trust you have a reason though?”

It fills Leo with a sudden warmth, but also inexplicably, a sense of doom. 

_ I hope you know what you are signing yourself up for, Valdez. What you’re signing  _ both _ of yourselves up for. _

Leo had had no idea, but he’d said yes anyway. “It’s kinda lame you didn’t have a back up,” Leo says, just to fill the trusting silence. “About your great sacrificial act. At least I had a magic daisy potion to bring me back to life. Think ahead, you know?”

“Fresh out of magic daisies, I’m afraid.”

“It’s okay. Doesn’t matter,” Leo says. ”I’m your magic daisy potion now.”

_ To storm or fire— _

That _ stupid prophecy again? _

_ It’s the only way, Leo Valdez. If you are dead set in your goal, those days and lines may yet be before you. They may yet decide your future. _

Leo smiles at his dead best friend, his dead boyfriend, his deadman’s switch in this rigged game he’s decided to play. 

He squeezes Jason’s hand. “Ready?”

He doesn’t wait for an answer.


End file.
